Bert Adams

Deix’wudu’oo

General Manager

Bertrand Adams — Deix’wudu’oo — is Yéil (Raven) moiety, L’uknax.ádi (Coho) clan, born and raised in Yakutat, Alaska. That upbringing, rooted in Southeast Alaska Native tradition and community, has shaped a career devoted to tribal self-determination, infrastructure development, and the long-term wellbeing of Alaska Native communities.

Bert brings more than 25 years of tribal government and infrastructure leadership across Southcentral and Southeast Alaska. Most recently, he served in Intergovernmental Affairs for the Knik Tribe, and prior to that as Special Projects Manager and Executive Director for the Native Village of Eyak. Before those roles, he spent 13 years as General Manager of the Yakutat Tlingit Tribe, where he tripled the Tribe’s annual budget and built the organizational and financial foundation for sustained growth.

Over the course of his career, Bert has secured and managed more than $250 million in federal, tribal, and infrastructure funding. Among his signature achievements is an $85 million Nationally Significant Federal Lands Tribal Program award, which helped fund the roughly $130 million Shepard Point Marine Transportation and Oil Spill Response Facility — a project that will serve as critical maritime and emergency-response infrastructure for the region. His work has given him deep, hands-on experience navigating the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), Indian Health Service (IHS), U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), and the Alaska Department of Transportation (AKDOT), along with a nuanced understanding of how to align Tribal 8(a) for-profit funding streams with Tribal program objectives and how to carry strategic plans through to implementation.

Beyond his professional work, Bert coached high school basketball, building programs around a foundation of life lessons, strong work ethic, and high standards for the quality of one’s work — an approach that produced championship-level teams at the regional and state level. That same philosophy of discipline, preparation, and accountability carries directly into his approach to tribal leadership and project management.

Bert joins Sitka Tribe of Alaska as General Manager, drawn to the role by his familiarity with Sitka Tribe and Southeast Alaska more broadly. He is looking forward to getting to know Tribal operations and community in the months ahead, and to bringing his experience in infrastructure funding, tribal governance, and organizational growth on Sitka Tribe’s priorities.